And For My Next Trip…

It’s announcement time! In a few short months I’m planning to take a bike trip through a nation that’s permanently in the headlines, but which I – like most of us here in the U.K. – know absolutely nothing about. That nation, of course, is the United States of America.

This instantly sounds like the most unadventurous place to conduct a bike tour. I’m probably not alone in having a lot of preconceptual baggage about the States. A big version of Britain with added guns, accents and waistlines. That’s the essence of the image that pops into my head. What could there possibly be across the pond that I haven’t already seen?

I’m incredibly fond of phrases which start with the words “if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my travels…”, so here’s another one: If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my travels, it’s that whatever you think you know about countries you’ve never visited is wrong. Mark Twain once said something very similar. Why should his homeland be any exception?

So that’s one reason for going. What the hell exactly is this thing called America? Who are Americans? Can these questions be answered? Do they even need answering? Does a place’s familiarity make it less interesting, or is interestingness more a function of perception?

Reason number two – and the main reason for the trip – is that I’m long overdue to go on an adventure with my younger brother Ben. We’ve hardly seen each other since I left home to go to university a decade ago. It’s about time we got to know each other a bit better as adults, I reckon, and I can’t think of much better ways than this.

Conveniently, Ben lives in Vancouver – which just happens to be a perfect starting point for the quintessential American West Coast road trip experience.

Susan Gardiner

This sounds like a great choice Tom. Of all blogs about the states, I especially like the stuff that Time Travel Turtle has written about his tour of the Southern States. Maybe it’s worth checking it out for ideas on where to go! Good luck, Fabio

Cindy

Thank you Ben for confirming there will be blogs! My brow went from a furrow to raised in moments. 🙂 Photos would be lovely too, thanks. Yours and Tom’s take on our crazy country will be devoured by this American!

dave

I’ve been thinking your blogs, and I wonder if a factor for you might also be that English (of a kind) is spoken in America. I felt keenly your struggle to engage at a personal level on your previous tours.

May I add that this has to be one of the most presumptious emails ever, and I do not mean to cause offence.
I hope you and your brother have a great trip.

You’re absolutely right, Dave. I feel like my ‘naive wandering’ stage has been well and truly flogged to death – at least in terms of human journeys. So language is fundamental both to the America trip and the one I’m planning for later in the year. Spot on.

I did a similar route but South to North (Starting in San Diego and Ending in Bellingham, close to Vancouver BC.

Suggestion: PLEASE take the time to ride around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It’s a slight detour but It’ll take you straight down to the 101 which will go onto the rest of the coast. It is beautiful: the only rainforest in the continental US. And way more appealing to the eye than the suburbs of Seattle, which only allow you to look across Puget Sound at the dazzling Olympic Mountains.

We loved cycling down the Pacific Coast Highway (except from L.A. to San Diego the roads get cramped/traffic-laden and camping options dwindle). If we had to do it again, we may have gone inland around that point.